The Mike Tyson Startup Plan
“Everyone has a plan ‘til they get punched in the mouth.”
We all love that Mike Tyson quote because it’s funny but so true.
Startups should not waste too much time on making detailed plans. Things change so fast when you’re just starting off that such a plan gets obsolete the minute the ink dries. Making plans that are incomplete or quickly drafted scare people. That’s why a lot of startup teams end up making long, detailed plans.
Long, detailed plans are complex. Smart people love complex things. Startups need to learn to hate complex things. They will kill startups because early stage startups do not use calendars to measure progress - they need to use a clock.
Complex = calendar
Simple = clock
When you rely on detailed plans, people tend to do everything in their power to stick with them. They do so because people have a tendency to assume that detailed plans are great plans. Once people start sticking to such plans, it makes it nearly impossible to change plans. Even small modifications consume a lot of resources.
Your startup will soon become a plan-driven company and all kinds of stupid things will need its own plan.
How should a startup approach plans?
Well, what happens to the boxer who gets punched in the mouth? They go blank, forget about the plan, start seeing stars circling above, eventually get their balance back, and switch instantly into survival mode, right?
If a skilled boxer survives the round, they will be able to recover and likely wear you down in later rounds. This is what large incumbents will do to your startup. They have the resources and staying power to go the length of the fight. Meanwhile, if a startup’s big swing doesn’t land or land but fail to knockout the opponent, the spent energy will tire them and it will get demoralized in subsequent rounds.
A startup that gets punched in the mouth won’t have the same advantage. Once the incumbent lands a big blow to your face, it will smell blood and try to finish you off. It will reduce the ring down and corner you. It will skip the jabbing and, instead, rain down heavy punches while you’re disoriented to finish you off.
Thus, a startup needs to get a big punch to land first AND, at the same time, avoid getting punched in the mouth. The big punch needs the whole body behind it and land. If not, the punch won’t have much effect or the opponent’s counterpunch will knock you out. That’s basically all there is to a startup’s initial plan. Get the whole body (company) behind a big punch.
The worst thing that can happen is to mimic larger companies or more established startups and follow a plan that is based on the presumption that you are going the length of the fight - or, all 10 rounds.
Be Like Tyson, Not Sugar Ray.
Create a plan that has the following characteristics:
Hunt for big sales. Do not go fishing. Focus on a lighthouse customer win - or two or three.
Remember that the “minimum” in MVP (minimum viable product) needs to be “maximum” (very deep or advanced) on some dimension.
Ask yourself “Is this a big punch or a jab?” with every decision or activity proposed across the company.
Make your plan drop dead simple with zero room for wrongly interpreting it. Do not fear people thinking it is too simple or not detailed enough. The details come through execution. The plan is like the bell ringing to start the round of fighting.
Think clock, not calendar. Follow me @racheleesthinks on Twitter.